It was more than 25 years ago when Tom Cruise first watched the directorial debut of Alejandro González Iñárritu and thought: “What the f***?”
asserted
Cruise → watch → Iñárritu
Cruise had already worked with some of the biggest names in Hollywood, including Stanley Kubrick, Martin Scorsese, Ridley Scott, Tony Scott and Ron Howard.
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Cruise → work → Kubrick
“When I saw his film 25 years ago, Amores Perros, what a brilliant film.
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I → see → film
I was one of the first audiences, and I heard about it early on …
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I → hear → it
Who’s this guy, Alejandro?” Cruise said during an onstage conversation this summer to promote Digger, his first collaboration with the writer-director.
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Cruise → ’ → director
Nominated for an Oscar, the film followed multiple characters whose worlds collide following a Mexico City car crash.
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worlds → nominate → crash
As Iñárritu made inroads in Hollywood with subsequent films, including 21 Grams (2003), and Babel (2006), Cruise made a point of seeing every one of his movies in the theatre.
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Cruise → make → theatre
Iñárritu approached Cruise with his story for Digger seven years ago, while the actor was shooting Top Gun: Maverick.
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actor → approach → Gun
“He came to me with this project, Digger, which he’d been working on for a couple of years by then,” Cruise recalled, “and then we just worked on it together.”
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we → come → it
Released on Oct. 2, Digger disguises Cruise under layers of prosthetics as he plays Digger Rockwell, an arrogant oil baron whose drilling in Greenland threatens to cause a global disaster.
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drilling → release → disaster
“Alejandro, he’s like, ‘I want you to look like this’ …
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you → ’ → this
I’m thinking, ‘This guy’s got f***ing balls,’ and I’m like, ‘I can’t wait.
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I → think → balls
Let’s go,’” said Cruise.
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Cruise → let → ?
“I have never had something that could challenge me in this way and neither has Alejandro when we went in, ever.
uncertain
we → have → way
And when you see this film, it’s totally original.”
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it → see → film
The film also stars Riz Ahmed, Sandra Hüller, John Goodman, Michael Stuhlbarg and Jesse Plemons.
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film → star → Ahmed
Cruise’s castmates said they weren’t prepared to see the legendary actor become so unrecognizable as he struts around his mansion sporting grey hair, wrinkles and a large gut.
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he → say → hair
“There’s a great spirit that comes out of him,” said Goodman, who appears in the film as the president.
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who → ’ → president
Stuhlbarg, who plays the vice president, said Cruise completely immersed himself in the character of Digger.
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Cruise → play → Digger
“That was kind of interesting because he was behind this remarkable character he was playing.
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he → play → character
In many ways, we didn’t get to see the Tom Cruise we all know and love,” Stuhlbarg said.
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Stuhlbarg → get → Cruise
After more than a decade playing IMF agent Ethan Hunt in his Mission: Impossible films, Ahmed, who plays a scientist trying to guide Digger through the global catastrophe his company has unleashed, praised Cruise for trying something vastly different in front of the camera.
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company → play → camera
“He’s always willing to try things out.
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He → ’ → things
And he’s always willing to fail and try again.
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he → ’ → ?
I saw him go through this process,” Ahmed said.
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Ahmed → see → process
“It’s very inspiring and uplifting and it gave us an opportunity to try things we hadn’t done before,” said Hüller, who plays Digger’s sister.
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who → ’ → sister
The Digger cast likened the movie to a painting with so many parts that come alive on the screen.
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that → liken → screen
Iñárritu said it was an idea he had been crafting for 10 years.
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he → say → years
“It was just after The Revenant, when I had an idea, not script, not a film, just a relentless recurring obsession, that has endured through all these wild years.
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that → have → years
I knew who this character was.
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character → know → ?
I knew how he spoke, how he survived, how he seduced reality into agreeing with him,” Iñárritu said.
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Iñárritu → know → him
“It’s absurd, it’s dangerous, but certainly comedic, because the source of great comedy is tragedy,” he said.
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he → ’ → comedy
“People often ask me why I chose Tom to play Digger.
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I → ask → Digger
To me, that’s like asking somebody why you drink water when you are thirsty?
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you → ’ → water
Because it’s what you need,” he added.
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he → ’ → what
Cruise made Iñárritu read his script to him.
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Iñárritu → make → him
He has developed a desire for wanting to hear scripts read aloud to him so he can “feel the musicality of the character.”
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he → develop → character
On Digger, he sat and listened as Iñárritu unveiled his story.
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Iñárritu → sit → story
“Alejandro took several days during which he was just reading the script to me,” Cruise said.
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Cruise → take → me
“I’m listening to everything that’s in his mind, so that I can understand that, and then I know how to contribute to it, and bring that collaboration together.
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I → listen → collaboration
…and 6 more, not listed.
The Aporia
